25 May 2013

REPORT: 2013 Irish Society of Comparative Law Conference

Back home from the Irish Society of Comparative Law Conference in lovely, lively Galway. There were, as always, many fine presentations, but the plenaries were particularly good:

Sue Farran (Northumbria), 'The Age of Empire. Again: Critical Thoughts on Legal Imperialism'

Brice Dickson (Queen's, Belfast), 'The Irish Supreme Court in Comparative Perspective: Preliminary Thoughts'

Thanks again to Marie and the rest of the Conference Committee.




CONFERENCE: Legacies of Empire: 39th annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society

Clio-online DiensteLegacies of Empire
39th annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society
13.06.2013-15.06.2013, Louisbourg and Sydney
As part of the anniversary celebrations marking the 300th Anniversary of Île Royale (Cape Breton and Prince Edward islands), Parks Canada’s Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site and Cape Breton University will host the 39th annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society in Louisbourg and Sydney from June 13th to 15th, 2013.
Founded in 1713, Fortress Louisbourg anchored France’s new world fishery and was the Atlantic stronghold of its North American empire – a position supported by the labour of migrant Europeans and African slaves, and sustained by relationships with the indigenous Mi’kmaw people.
While the history of French Louisbourg ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 as did France’s imperial dreams both on Île Royale and in North America generally, the legacies of colonization and imperial conflict are still evident in the region – as they are across the continent and around the globe.

24 May 2013

CALL FOR ARTICLES: Comparative Legal History, the official journal of the European Society for Comparative Legal History


As Editor of Comparative Legal Historythe official journal of the European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH), I'm pleased to announce that publication of its first issue is imminent.


Published with Hart Publishing (UK), Comparative Legal History is an international and comparative review of law and history and welcomes scholarly submissions in the English language:

Its articles explore both internal legal history (doctrinal and disciplinary developments in the law) and external legal history (legal ideas and institutions in wider contexts). Firmly rooted in the complexity of the various Western legal traditions worldwide, it also provides a forum for the investigation of other laws and law-like normative traditions around the globe. Scholarship on comparative and trans-national historiography, including trans-disciplinary approaches, is particularly welcome. 

The editors cordially invite contributions: articles, review articles and book reviews.

The website will be updated shortly, but our Guidelines for Contributors are already posted and should be reviewed before submitting. A sample article, David M Rabban's 'American Responses to German Legal Scholarship: From the Civil War to World War I' (2013) 1 Comparative Legal History 13, is also available for downloading.

Finally, note that a special arrangement between the ESCLH and Hart has been made to ensure that ESCLH membership fees include a subscription to Comparative Legal History.

Spread the word. 

23 May 2013

BOOK: Eliantonio, Backes, van Rhee, Spronken and Berlee on Legal Standing (Locus Standi) before the EU and Member States' Courts


Intersentia has published Mariolina Eliantonio, Chris Backes, C.H. van Rhee, Taru Spronken and Anna Berlee (eds), Standing up for Your Right(s) in Europe:A Comparative Study on Legal Standing (Locus Standi) before the EU and MemberStates' Courts:

This book is based on a report submitted to the European Parliament, whose aim was to provide a comparative analysis of legal provisions, doctrine and case-law on locus standi before civil, administrative and criminal courts of some selected legal systems and before the EU courts. Apart from the EU legal system, the study focuses on the legal systems of nine Member States of the European Union (Belgium; England and Wales; France; Germany; Hungary; Italy; the Netherlands; Poland; Sweden) and the legal system of one non-EU Member State (Turkey). On the basis of the findings, a conclusive chapter stresses the congruities and differences between the legal standing criteria in the Member States, on the one hand, and before the EU Courts, on the other. Moreover, the findings with regard to the different fields of law in the Member States are compared. On the basis of a thorough analysis of the status quo in the EU and Member States’ legal systems, recommendations have also been developed, including suggestions on the possible improvements to the standing requirements in the EU and national legal systems.

CONFERENCE: American Society of International Law Research Forum



The American Society of International Law calls for submissions of scholarly paper proposals for the ASIL Research Forum to be held during the Society's Midyear Meeting at the New York University School of Law November 1-3, 2013.

The Research Forum, a Society initiative introduced in 2011, aims to provide a setting for the presentation and focused discussion of works-in-progress by Society members. All ASIL members are invited to attend the Forum, whether presenting a paper or not.

Interested participants should submit an abstract (no more than 500 words in length) summarizing the scholarly paper to be presented at the Forum. Papers can be on any topic related to international and transnational law and should be unpublished (for purposes of the call, publication to an electronic database such as SSRN is not considered publication). Interdisciplinary projects, empirical studies, and jointly authored papers are welcome. Member proposals should be submitted online here by June 14. Proposals will include 1) the name, institutional affiliation, professional position, and contact information for the author(s), and 2) an abstract. Review of the abstracts will be blind, and therefore abstracts should not include any identifying information about the author. Abstracts containing identifying information will not be reviewed. Proposals will be vetted by the Research Forum Committee with selections to be announced by July 14.

At present, it is the intent of the Research Forum Committee to organize the selected paper proposals around common issues, themes, and approaches. Discussants, who will comment on the papers, will be assigned to each cluster of papers. All authors will be required to submit a draft paper four weeks before the Research Forum. The expectation is that drafts will be posted on the Research Forum website.

Kristen Boon (Seton Hall)
Timothy Meyer (University of Georgia)
2013 Research Forum Co-Chairs

CALL FOR PAPERS: Compensation Culture or Accident Culture? Comparative Tort Law Reform in the 21st Century

Compensation Culture or Accident Culture?
Comparative Tort Law Reform in the 21st Century
 
Call for Papers
June 2014 will mark the 10th anniversary of the coming into operation of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board in Ireland; the Board quantifies damages in most classes of personal injury case where liability is not in dispute. 2014 is also the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, which introduced a variety of procedural reforms to the tort process. These reforms were introduced to deal with a variety of perceived problems in the tort system.
 
To mark the anniversary, the International Commercial and Economic Law Research Group at the School of Law, University of Limerick is hosting a conference on comparative compensation culture and tort reform at the end of May 2014 (provisionally on 23 and 24 May). It will seek to bring together a variety of perspectives from academics and practitioners in law, insurance and the administration of compensation schemes. In particular, it seeks to focus on the position in Ireland, England & Wales and Australia, though other jurisdictions may be included if there is sufficient interest expressed.

Anyone interested in offering a paper on any aspect of this theme should submit an outline to eoin.quill@ul.ie by Friday 4 October 2013.

Eoin Quill
Director ICELRG
School of Law
University of Limerick
Ireland.

22 May 2013

WORKING PAPERS: Juridiques Universitaires Francophones

I just came across this blog entry today:

Working papers juridiques universitaires francophones

Lundi 20 mai 2013, par Emmanuel Barthe // L’édition juridique

Une liste de liens, un peu en vrac de "working papers" (documents de travail donnant lieu à publication ailleurs plus tard) [1]. Ca dépend des domaines, mais oui, il existe des documents universitaires de qualité en accès libre sur le Web [2].

Droit européen, droit international et comparé, DIP :
Droits de l’Homme :
Droit comparé du travail et de la sécurité sociale :
Droit de la concurrence et analyse économique de l’application du droit de la concurrence :
Droit de l’entreprise :
Philosophie du droit :
D’autres à suggérer ? Les commentaires sont ouverts.
 

Notes de bas de page

[1] Merci à Jean.
[2] Des revues juridiques libres aussi. Et des mémoires et thèses de droit en libre accès. Une liste des sites de thèses et mémoires en droit, normalement exhaustive, est tenue à jour sur le wiki de Juriconnexion.

JOURNAL: German Law Journal

The new issue of the German Law Journal is available at www.germanlawjournal.com.


The current symposium issue was convened by GLJ editorial board member, Floris de Witte and Moritz Hartmann and contains pertinent scholarly interventions into the debate over the state of the EU's political and economic constitutional set-up and we are thrilled about this timely undertaking.

WORKSHOP: JURISDICTIONAL COMPLEXITY IN WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY Project

In addition to the upcoming Irish Society of Comparative Law Conference this Friday and Saturday, a Workshop on JURISDICTIONAL COMPLEXITY IN WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY will take place at the University of Limerick next Monday.

The project abstract is here. The first paragraph reads:

Western legal histories are frequently told as very simplistic and whiggish tales. They highlight common laws at the expense of both myriad, layered local laws and other, less formal, normative orders. But the creation of genuinely general national laws, a legal ‘system’ centred on the state, and the elimination of competing jurisdictions and marginalisation of non-legal norms was a very long historical process. Indeed, the ideas and institutions of many of the competitors of national law have survived into the present.  Because the historical and contemporary importance of these jurisdictions is not reflected in current historiography, the proposed volume in comparative legal history will examine Western jural complexity from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. Only the study of these marginalised normative orders—each worthy of study in their own right—will provide us with the appropriate context necessary to understand the laws that have continued into the present period. Their failures will tell us much about the successes of our contemporary common laws.

The Workshop is led by me and Dirk Heirbaut (Ghent). We met in Ghent last year and hope to publish the collection next year. We have been generously supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation

Contact me for additional information.

21 May 2013

JOB: Associate Professor/Professor Law and Law and Society


Job opening - Associate Professor/Professor Law and Law and Society (University of Western Australia)
As a result of its successful introduction of a new BA Major in Law and Society in 2012, The University of Western Australia Law School is seeking to appoint an academic with interests in socio-legal studies/law and society/empirical studies in law.

Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent in research. Applicants with teaching experience are requested to submit a teaching portfolio as part of their application if they are tempted by a beautiful city, warmer weather, a strong economy, high achieving students, and a collegial atmosphere within a research-intensive university, ranked in the World's top-100.

To discuss or clarify any aspects of the position please contact Professor Erika Techera, Dean and Head of School, on (08) 6488 2949.

Benefits include generous superannuation and leave provisions and fares to Perth (if applicable) for appointee and dependants along with a removal allowance. These and other benefits will be specified in the offer of employment.

Application Details: Applications must be submitted online. Full details of the position's responsibilities and the selection criteria are outlined in the position description and applicants should clearly demonstrate they meet the selection criteria.

For more information and full details on how to apply visit:
http://external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/cw/en/job/492453/assistant-professorassociate-professorprofessor-law-and-law-and-society

Applications close: 14 Jun 2013 11:55 PM W. Australia Standard Time

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: Donlan on Hybridity and Beyond

It's that time again ...

I'd welcome any feedback on my draft--and published--work available online, some (primarily comparative law, and legal history, of Ireland and Louisiana) here; and some (eg, work on Edmund Burke, etc) here.

In particular, I'm set to remove my draft version of 'To hybridity and beyond: reflections on legal and normative complexity' shortly to finalise it for publication in a comparative collection on mixed legal systems. I'd be very grateful for your thoughts.

By the way, I'm happy to flag the work of other members, but you'll have to prepare your own shameless message for me to post ...


 

NOTICE: Environment, Law, and History

Check out the new Environment, Law, and History Blog and Discussion Group:

The connections between the environment, law, and history are deep and pervasive. Many of us, from many disciplines – law, history, geography, and environmental studies to name a few – have been working at the intersections of these fields for some time, but have had no common forum for exchanging views and information. This blog aims to enable such exchanges, allowing us to share ideas and learn about scholarship, conferences, and opportunities for collaboration with colleagues around the world.

20 May 2013

EVENT SERIES: Fresh Perspectives on Law


Fresh Perspectives on Law
BPP Law School

‘Barriers in International Law to Transnational Human Rights Litigation’
Paul Mora, Lecturer, BPP Law School
11th June 2013, 6pm at BPP University College, Waterloo Centre.

An international trend towards States providing reparation for violations of human rights has become discernible in recent years. However, this movement has not overcome the barriers imposed by international law on individuals who seek to obtain civil remedies before the national courts of foreign states for their alleged abuses. This lecture will evaluate the international doctrines of jurisdiction and immunity in light of the recent decisions of the US Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, and the International Court of Justice in Germany v. Italy. It will argue that these decisions are correctly decided in so far as they recognise the horizontal nature of the international legal system whereby sovereign States are equal, and their national courts cannot assert regulatory competence over another.

Paul David Mora is a Lecturer in Law at BPP Law School, University College. He has a research interest in public international law, and his work in this field was cited by an amicus curiae brief before the US Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum.

This event is accredited for 1 CPD Point.

‘An Evening of Dissent: Exploring the importance of Dissenting Judgments in English Law’
26th June 2013, 6pm at BPP University College, Waterloo Centre.

A discussion panel will examine the importance of dissenting judgments in English Law. In what should be a lively and informed event, the panel will look at dissenting judgments from a contemporary and historical perspective. There will be focus on the value of dissenting judgments for practitioners, as well discussing whether there is a need for clearer judgments (such as at the ECtHR).

Confirmed panellists include:

· Professor Ian Loveland, City University
· Catharine MacMillan, Reader in Legal History at Queen Mary, University of London
· Richard Booth QC, One Crown Office Row
· Chris Monaghan, Senior Lecturer in Law, BPP University College
· Neal Geach, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Hertfordshire

This event is accredited for 1.5 CPD Points.

All events are followed by a drinks reception.
The events take place at BPP Law School Waterloo, 137 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN.
FREE ADMISSION - if you would like to attend please register via:
For more information please contact the convenors, Chris Monaghan (ChrisMonaghan@bpp.com) or Thomas Bennett (ThomasBennett@bpp.com). 

CONFERENCE: Exploring New Directions in the Islamic Legal Tradition


Exploring New Directions in the Islamic Legal Tradition:
Human Rights and Legal Reform in the 21st Century
Tue 18 June 2013
9.30 am- 6:30pm
Day Conference

BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Telford Room, Hamilton Centre
Brunel University Campus,
Kingston Lane, Uxbridge
Brunel academics & students: Free
Non-Brunel academics: £20
Non Brunel students: £10
Public: £20
Price includes refreshments & lunch

I received the following information today:

On behalf of the Brunel Law School we are honoured to invite you to participate in a Islamic Law Conference titled “Exploring New Directions in Islamic Legal Tradition(s): Human Rights and Legal Reform in the 21st Century” to be held on 18th June 2013 in Brunel University. This international conference will bring together leading academics, researchers and students of Islamic law and human rights to explore progressive, creative and innovative ways of engagement with the Islamic tradition. Questions about Muslim women’s empowerment, family law reform in the Muslim world, the role of Sharia Councils and Islamic law and human rights will be addressed.

Additional information and registration is available at ayesha.shahid@brunel.ac.uk and  sharon.weaver@brunel.ac.uk.

UPDATE: Call for Papers - Journal of Comparative Law in Africa

The Journal of Comparative Law in Africa is a peer-reviewed annual academic legal journal founded in 2013 and published by the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa, at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). The Journal is presented as a bilingual journal (English and French) to address legal issues on the African continent. It encourages scholars and jurists writing on all fields of law in Africa using a comparative approach or methodology to submit their original writings for publication in both languages. The journal welcomes research, conceptual, practice and empirical papers. Book reviews and viewpoints will also be considered. Submissions which are not presented in the standard academic article format will not be considered. The Journal has an editorial board made up of renowned scholars in comparative law, African law, legal philosophy, commercial law, and many others from different countries in Africa, Europe, and the United States.


CALL FOR PAPERS – APPEL A CONTRIBUTION

The Journal of Comparative Law in Africa (JCLA) is published annually on 30 November. We invite scholars and jurists to submit manuscripts of original articles for possible publication in any then-current issue of the Journal by 31 July for the November issue. The final decision on whether the manuscript is accepted for publication in the JCLA is made by its Editorial Board, taking into consideration the results of two (2) anonymous referees’ review. The decision of the JCLA Editorial Board will be communicated as early as possible, usually no later than three (3) months from the submission. If any of the referees suggests possible revision or addition, the feedback will be conveyed to the author and a short period will be allowed for revision if the author wishes to do so.

Manuscripts should be written in English or French with a summary in the same language and also, if possible, in the other language, preferably in MS-word file, A4 12 points, using Times New Roman. Please use footnotes (10 points font size) rather than endnotes.  Manuscripts written in English or French should not be longer than 12000 words, excluding summary and citations.  The summary should have a maximum word count of 350.  Manuscripts longer than the recommended length will only be considered for publication on a special basis.  The journal house style and the JUTA publication style will be made available on the Centre for Comparative Law website www.comparativelaw.uct.ac.za and upon request or submission of a paper.

Please email submissions to the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa: jcla@uct.ac.za

19 May 2013

SUMMER SCHOOL: Forum Montesquieu


I just received the following message:
On behalf of the University of Bordeaux and the University Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, we are delighted to invite students for all over the world to attend the Summer Law School of the “Forum Montesquieu” from the 1st to the 19th July 2013.
This Summer Law School will bring together students, professionals, professors and researchers from around the world who are engaged in French and comparative Human Rights Law. For three weeks, participants will study, in English, Fundamental Freedoms Law with internationally respected faculty from all over Europe. We are planning an inspirational program of cultural activities in true French tradition.
Bordeaux is one of the world’s most liveable and beautiful cities in France, which is renowned for its culture, gastronomy, vineyard and wine. Our programme of cultural activities will allow the participants to discover the architecture of Bordeaux (which has the UNESCO World Heritage status), the beautiful sand beaches of the Arcachon bay and the splendors of the Montesquieu castle. Bordeaux is famed for blending academic excellence and pleasure. The package includes the tuition fees for the seminars all taught in English, accommodation, lunches during the study days and the cultural activities costs and transportation.
For any further information, please contact our administrative team at:

CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop on Doctoral Research on Minority Rights


Call for Papers for a half day workshop on doctoral research on minority rights (as part of the 2013-14 seminar series of the UK Network on Human Rights and Minority Groups)


Workshop II: Current Doctoral Research on Minority Rights
Location: School of Law, University of Reading, Foxhill House, Whiteknights Road, Reading, RG6 7BA
Date: Monday June 12th 2013 (pm)

Aim: This workshop enables current doctoral students to showcase the cutting-edge research being undertaken on minority rights across the UK and beyond. Students will be allocated to panels of presentations and a discussant will be allocated to provide formal feedback.

This event follows on from our first workshop of this seminar series held in March 2013, where we debated the current research directions on minority rights protection with a range of participants, including academic, civil society organisations, PhD and other research students.

Participants: Mphil, MRes and PhD students; academics (as discussants)

Application:

Presenters: To apply, please send a title and abstract (up to 350 words) of your paper to Tawhida Ahmed at t.b.ahmed@reading.ac.uk

Discussants: Please register your interest and availability by replying to Tawhida Ahmed at t.b.ahmed@reading.ac.uk

Other documentation:

Presenters and participants will be required to provide a brief overview of their affiliation and research interests for circulation at the workshop by 31 May 2013.

Expected result: The idea of this workshop is to debate the significant research which is being undertaken by our doctoral students. It also aims to serve as a networking opportunity between junior and senior scholars in the field.

Contact: Please direct queries to Dr Tawhida Ahmed (t.b.ahmed@reading.ac.uk), School of Law, University of Reading.

CONFERENCE: Access to Social Justice in International and Comparative Law

I recently received the following message:



A l'occasion de la prochaine réunion de l’Association Internationale des Revues de Droit Social / International Association of Labour Law Journals (IALLJ), le COMPTRASEC organise un colloque international sur la thématique de l’accès à la justice sociale en droit international et en droit comparé, qui se déroulera du 6 au 7 juin 2013 à Bordeaux.

Les thèmes abordés porteront sur :

- L’activation de la justice sociale : déroulement du procès, délais de procédure, représentation et assistance, rôle des organisations syndicales et des organisations non gouvernementales.
- La diversification de la justice sociale : implantation et compétences des juridictions nationales et internationales, modes alternatifs et complémentaires de règlement des litiges sociaux.

....

La participation au colloque est soumise à une inscription en ligne du 15 avril au 25 mai 2013 (http://ajs2013.sciencesconf.org/)

Pour toute information supplémentaire, contacter : ajs2013@sciencesconf.org [includes the programme]